Imagination
by Andrea O'Down
Summary: Ash is growling more than usual at Lance lately. Or so he thinks. But maybe it's just his imagination.


_For the writing-prompts I'm doing on tumblr. An anon asked for "Maybe I'm just crazy." for AshXLance._

* * *

 **Imagination**

Lance doesn't know if it's just his imagination, but it _appears_ to him that Ash is growling at him more than usual.

Yes, it's true she's been doing that every now and then after they got back together, and he never complained.

Because she has a reason for that. More than one, actually.

He's been a jerk, and then there was the B-issue - B stands for Becky -, not to mention that Ash did take him back, that they actually got back together.

Something he thought was impossible after what he pulled.

But they got back together a three months ago, and as surprising as this is, it's working.

Of course Ash likes to remind him that he's been a jerk and lets him feel it, but he's fine with it.

He deserves it.

But for a week now, Ash's been overdoing it.

Like yesterday when she started banging on the bathroom door and asking if he was planning on spending the night in there just because he decides to enjoy his hot shower a little longer than usual which he thinks was his right after a hard day of rehearsals.

Or like this morning when she yelled at him that he was standing in her way although all he did was getting a cup of coffee - like he did _every_ morning.

He sighs - and only jumps a little when Ash enters the living room.

He expects her to growl at him because of something again, so he is all tensed up when she settles down on the couch next to him.

Ash looks at the TV where some stupid show is on, but Lance keeps looking at her from the corner of his eye.

He's still waiting for her to growl at him.

He jumps a little when Ash turns to him with a frown on her face.

"You okay?" she asks.

He has to give it to her, she sounds normal, even a bit concerned.

"I'm fine!" he replies, realizing too late that it was a little too loudly.

"You sure?" Ash asks, her frown deepening.

For a moment, Lance thinks of insisting that he's fine, but then he decides against it.

They promised to be honest with each other.

He sighs.

"Look, Ash," he begins, still trying to get the words together, "do … do you think it might be possible that you … uhm … might be growling at me a lot lately?"

He looks at her, seeing how she twists her mouth.

Okay, he was probably wrong.

"Or maybe I'm just imagining it!" he adds quickly. "Maybe I'm just crazy."

Ash twists her mouth a little more, and Lance tenses up again, waiting for her to yell at him.

And then Ash lets out a deep breath.

"No, you're not," she says, and her voice sounds a bit low.

"I'm not?" Lance asks because for a moment, he had been hoping he was just imagining things.

Now he knows he isn't which means Ash has a reason to growl at him more than usual. And he doesn't like it.

"No, you're not," Ash says with another sigh.

She lowers her eyes to the ground.

"I-I'm overdue," she finally says.

It takes Lance a while to process what she's just said.

"How long?" he asks.

"A bit more than a week."

Lance nods. "That's not so bad, is it? I mean you had a lot of stress lately. Besides, we've been careful."

Ash laughs a little at that. "Nothing's a hundred percent, Lance!" she says. "Except you're different species which obviously, we are not."

It's the moment Lance realizes that maybe he shouldn't have played it down and instead should have been a little more supportive than to find reasons why the possibility lingering in the air is not a possibility at all.

He's so stupid.

"Did you take a test?" he asks.

Ash shakes her head. "I was too scared, to be honest. And too embarrassed to buy one."

"Okay." Lance nods. And then he realizes what he has to do.

He takes Ash's hand and gives it a little squeeze, smiling at her when she raises her gaze to look at him.

"I'll take care of that," he says.

* * *

Granted, he does feel a bit weird as he enters the drug store.

Especially since he usually comes here to buy condoms. And today it's a pregnancy test.

Yes, it's weird.

And it might be his imagination, but he thinks that the saleswoman is smirking a bit at him. Or twisting her mouth. It's hard to tell.

And really, it might just be his imagination. Which it hasn't been before, so why should he be imagining things now, but…

He pushes away the thoughts, grabs the little bag and leaves the shop again.

* * *

When Ash leaves the bathroom, Lance feels his throat tighten.

"And?" he asks.

Ash rolls her eyes. "We have to wait three more minutes."

"Okay," he says.

Ash stops, her eyes lowered to the ground and she seems so lost and vulnerable, Lance feels the urge to take her into his arms.

"Come here," he says gently, ignoring the tightness in his throat and pulls her into a hug.

Ash lets it happen.

"What if it's positive?" she asks, burying her face in his chest.

"Then we're going to be parents," Lance replies, placing a kiss on top of her head where her quills allow it.

"I'm not sure I'm ready for this," Ash says, wrapping her arms around him.

"Me neither," he says. "I guess that's normal."

Ash sighs. "We'll find out soon enough."

"Yeah," Lance says, placing another kiss on top of her head.

They just stand there, holding each other.

Then Lance glances at the clock on the wall.

"Time is up," he says, and Ash flinches a bit.

She looks up at him, and Lance smiles at her, rubbing her back.

"Ready?" he asks.

"No," she says.

"Good," he replies. "Because I'm not ready either."

Ash laughs a little, before they let go of each other.

She holds out her hand and he takes it.

Together, they walk into the bathroom.

Once they've entered, Ash leads him to the sink, but because he doesn't know where exactly she placed the pregnancy test, he's still looking for it, when Ash takes in a sharp breath, grabbing his hand a little more tightly. Okay, a lot more tightly. It even hurts a bit.

He doesn't care because in this moment, he sets eyes on the test, too, but he doesn't know what the result is.

He doesn't know one thing about pregnancy tests, to be honest. Maybe he should have checked the information on the box on his way here, but he was so eager to get home as quickly as possible that he forgot.

So he just frowns and turns to Ash.

She looks at him.

"Looks like we're going to be parents," she says.

Yes, there is a little pang in his heart, and yes, he feels the panic rising in his chest, but there's this warm wave running through his body, too, that brings a smile to his face.

"Really?" he calls out.

"Really," Ash confirms, and he can see the insecurity, the fear in her eyes, but there's this small smile on her face, too.

Lance pulls her into a hug.

"Gosh, I'm so scared," Ash says with a little laugh.

"Yeah, me too," Lance admits. "But on the other hand, I'm so happy, too."

"Me too!" Ash laughs a little louder, holding on to him a bit more tightly.

"We're going to get this done, _Mom_ ," Lance says.

"Lance," Ash says, and he doesn't miss the little warning in her voice. "Don't call me 'Mom'."

"Okay!" He laughs.

He pulls away a bit so he can look at her face again.

He knows his smile has turned into a big grin, and Ash's smile has grown a lot broader, too.

And he can't help, but kiss her.


End file.
